"This, then is our desert:
to live facing despair,
but not to consent.
To trample it down under hope in the Cross.
To wage war against despair unceasingly.
That war is our wilderness.
If we wage it courageously,
we will find Christ at our side.
If we cannot face it,
we will never find him."

Tuesday, 3 November 2009

A brief response

Having been quoted on the BBC over the weekend (albeit anonymously) and having received the following response to what I wrote on this blog from one of the contributors on the "All Things Considered" programme : “I suppose there comes a point when if a person feels they can’t give their loyalty any longer to their own tradition, then it’s probably better that they’re able to find a home elsewhere…,” I suppose I should make at least some attempt at a reply. Here goes…

It’s not that we, as Anglican Catholics, can’t give our loyalty to our “own tradition.” The Bishops of the Church in Wales individually and collectively by their repeated refusal to honour their previous promises to us have obstinately refused to acknowledge that there is, in fact, more than one valid tradition within Anglicanism and that, as a contributor to the Church Times has written only last week, Anglicanism “depends upon a very delicate balance, a balance that has been created by the oddness and accidents of history, which we tamper with at our peril.” It’s not that I can’t give my loyalty; what I can’t do is to bring myself to sign a blank cheque to those currently running the show, whether bishops or synodical processes, to change that tradition, to tamper with that “delicate balance,” at will. I’ll say it again: loyalty is not a one way street, and hints about disloyalty to the tradition or traditions of Anglicanism are among the very last accusations the present Welsh Bench or Governing Body should make about others.Perhaps, then, it is becoming clearer that our particular tradition within the Anglican patrimony does need to be in safer hands than it is at present - if only to ensure its continued existence.It's late; that will have to do - for now.